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Rahul and Sampada run Farm of Happiness, a homestay about forty kilometres from Ratnagiri. Both left city careers to build this place. Arjun sat down with them to talk about food, culture, what children will and won't eat, how cropping patterns have shifted, and what climate change looks like as it moves from their fields into their kitchens. The conversation moves the way cooking does. Slow, unhurried thoughts spoken as they arrive. Listen in, see what it brings up for you. Hands of Transition started in 2025 with a straightforward idea. The people living through food insecurity and climate stress are also the ones best placed to fix it. It brings together communities across India who are already doing that work, connecting design, storytelling, and on-the-ground action in ways that feel organic rather than imposed. There's no top-down blueprint here. The initiative is built around making room for these communities to tell their stories and drive change from within.

Jayanth Phadke is a writer closely connected to the culture of the Konkan region. Arjun met him at a small restaurant over tea, and they spoke about food, families, and migration. The kind of conversation that unfolds slowly and stays with you. Hands of Transition started in 2025 with a straightforward idea. The people living through food insecurity and climate stress are also the ones best placed to fix it. It brings together communities across India who are already doing that work, connecting design, storytelling, and on-the-ground action in ways that feel organic rather than imposed. There's no top-down blueprint here. The initiative is built around making room for these communities to tell their stories and drive change from within.

When it comes to mangoes and fish, we often speak of them as delicacies. But the commercial side matters just as much. It shapes how we farm and how we fish, and in turn, what finally reaches our plates. This episode brings together two perspectives on the economics of food. One from land, one from sea. Hands of Transition started in 2025 with a straightforward idea. The people living through food insecurity and climate stress are also the ones best placed to fix it. It brings together communities across India who are already doing that work, connecting design, storytelling, and on-the-ground action in ways that feel organic rather than imposed. There's no top-down blueprint here. The initiative is built around making room for these communities to tell their stories and drive change from within.

When we talk about mangoes, we usually stay with the fruit. Its sweetness, its season, its reputation. But behind that are decisions shaped by weather, markets, and memory. Omkar Ranade is a third-generation mango farmer in Ratnagiri, and he has been living with those decisions for a long time. Arjun sat with him at his orchard to talk about the history of the Alphonso name, why most of his produce travels straight to city consumers, and how subtle shifts in climate are changing not just yields but taste itself. What does it mean to keep farming when the old rhythms no longer hold the same shape? Hands of Transition started in 2025 with a straightforward idea: the people living through food insecurity and climate stress are also the ones best placed to fix it. It brings together communities across India who are already doing that work, connecting design, storytelling, and on-the-ground action in ways that feel organic rather than imposed. There's no top-down blueprint here. The initiative is built around making room for these communities to tell their stories and drive change from within.

Meeting Sudhir Risbud happened by chance. While researching food around Ratnagiri, Arjun stumbled upon geoglyphs in the district and ended up sitting down with Sudhir to talk about early modern humans and what these ancient carvings tell us. It connects to the larger thread running through this series: people adapting to landscape, to climate, to what the land offers. Just stretched across thousands of years instead of decades. The Konkan was once a rainforest. Now it is grassland. This land has always been in conversation with the people who lived on it. Hands of Transition started in 2025 with a straightforward idea — the people living through food insecurity and climate stress are also the ones best placed to fix it. It brings together communities across India who are already doing that work, connecting design, storytelling, and on-the-ground action in ways that feel organic rather than imposed. There's no top-down blueprint here. The initiative is built around making room for these communities to tell their stories and drive change from within.

How much does climate change alter the taste of the food you love? Arjun Swaminathan travels to the Konkan coast to find out. Through conversations with fisherfolk, farmers, and home cooks, this series traces something quieter than floods and failed crops, the slow, almost invisible shift in the flavors and food traditions of a place. Because climate change doesn't just affect what we grow. It changes what we remember. Hands of Transition started in 2025 with a straightforward idea — the people living through food insecurity and climate stress are also the ones best placed to fix it. It brings together communities across India who are already doing that work, connecting design, storytelling, and on-the-ground action in ways that feel organic rather than imposed. There's no top-down blueprint here. The initiative is built around making room for these communities to tell their stories and drive change from within.

This multimedia story was developed by Native Picture, with support from Kalpavriksh, Vikalp Sangam and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. In this episode we travel to Pachgaon, a small village in Maharashtra, India, to listen to a quiet but powerful story of self governance. The people of Pachgaon speak about how their lives began to change when they came together to understand and claim their rights over land and forests. What follows is not just a legal process but a deeply human journey shaped by trust, collective decision making, and a long relationship with the forest. As seasonal migration, uncertainty and exclusion once defined everyday life, asserting rights under the Forest Rights Act helped the community imagine a different future. Through village meetings, shared responsibility and local knowledge, Pachgaon began to practice democracy in its most grounded form. This episode reflects on how laws become meaningful only when people make them their own, turning a written constitution into something lived and practiced every day.

Anup Ranjan Pandey speaks unhurriedly and deliberately about his work. He hesitates to describe himself as an artist, preferring to highlight his enthusiasm and love for the arts instead. It is true that the term ‘artist’ does not fit him, but not because of some hierarchical measure of ‘quality’. It is because the scope of his work extends to cultural preservation, community engagement, and much more.

Dedicated to forest conservation and the promotion of sustainable agricultural practices, Jisudan Disari is a pillar of strength for his community in the Barakutni village of the Koraput district. His journey from a traditional cultivator to a community leader advocating for ecological balance reflects his deep understanding of the intricate relationship between nature and human survival.

Far away from the deliberations of policy spaces and conclaves, in the Gangwar village in Telangana, Anjamma Nadimidoddi embodies the most sophisticated knowledge of concepts such as climate resilience and multi-cropping. Her seed collection of 80 millets, pulses, and oil seeds has received recognition from the United Nations during the International Year of Millets (2023). Nadimidoddi’s extensive knowledge and experience have earned her a place on the expert panel on agro-biodiversity in Andhra Pradesh. Her farm has become a learning centre for government officers, scientists, civil society activists, and media personnel. They regularly visit to observe innovative farming techniques and seed preservation methods.

Rajkumari Devi, affectionately known as “Kisan Chachi” or “Cycle Chachi,” has become a symbol of endurance, innovation, and collective agency. From a small farmer to a successful entrepreneur and community leader, Rajkumari Devi’s life and work testify to the power of improving local livelihoods through collective entrepreneurship. Her path to empowerment was not easy. Entrenched patriarchal norms—an early marriage, and the pressure to bear male children—shaped her early adulthood. Yet, it was precisely these challenges that fuelled her determination to bring about change.

The Laporiya village near Jaipur in Rajasthan once stood as a symbol of destitution. Its broken mud embankment mirrored the challenges faced by its inhabitants: poverty, malnutrition, and an unrelenting battle against nature. Acute water scarcity was at the heart of these issues. Farming being the primary occupation for its 200 families, drought, dilapidated infrastructure, and dry wells cast a shadow on agricultural viability. Laxman Singh, born into a farming family in Laporiya, first attempted to usher in change in the form of a humble gathering of village elders, where he proposed the renovation of the village pond to improve its water-holding capacity. The response was underwhelming. He recalls doubts were raised about the plan’s viability, labour availability, and other aspects. Despite facing initial resistance from village officials for rule-framing initiatives, such as tree-cutting penalties and fines for hunting, Singh persisted.

Fusing the old with the new, this approach is a testament to Nuklu’s approach for tackling urgent economic, social, and environmental issues. "Our ancestors were conservationists," Nuklu asserts. "They knew how much to take, what to take, and what to preserve." Central to Nuklu's work is a commoning of the forests, tied in with robust community engagement and a return to the ethos of traditional governance structures.

Tambor Lyngdoh, a community leader from Meghalaya, has dedicated his life to forest conservation and sustainable development. As a descendant of the Lyngdoh clan, who have traditionally overseen sacred grove rituals, Tambor brings a unique perspective to environmental stewardship. His work exemplifies a community-based approach to environmental conservation, blending traditional wisdom with contemporary practices. These efforts not only preserve forests but also strengthen local economies and cultural identities, offering a model for sustainable development in Indigenous communities.

Radio jockey (RJ) Varsha Raikwar stands tall as the voice of empowerment in India's heart, nestled amidst the vibrant culture and rich history of the Bundelkhand region. With her velvety voice and magnetic personality, she has emerged as a local powerhouse, touching on a wide variety of topics from climate change and agriculture to health, women’s empowerment, and education.